Hypertext Webster Gateway: "casuistry"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Casuistry \Cas"u*ist*ry\, a.
1. The science or doctrine of dealing with cases of
conscience, of resolving questions of right or wrong in
conduct, or determining the lawfulness or unlawfulness of
what a man may do by rules and principles drawn from the
Scriptures, from the laws of society or the church, or
from equity and natural reason; the application of general
moral rules to particular cases.
The consideration of these nice and puzzling
question in the science of ethics has given rise, in
modern times, to a particular department of it,
distinguished by the title of casuistry. --Stewart.
Casuistry in the science of cases (i.e., oblique
deflections from the general rule). --De Quincey.
2. Sophistical, equivocal, or false reasoning or teaching in
regard to duties, obligations, and morals.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
casuistry
n 1: argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle and
intended to be misleading
2: moral philosophy based on the application of general ethical
principles to resolve moral dilemmas
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